1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of optimizing an optical system which realizes automated design of an optical system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical surfaces in an optical system are usually spheres which have their centers on the optical axis. Special surfaces such as aspheres, diffractive optical elements (DOEs), and decentered surfaces are effective for improving the function and the quality of the optical system and reducing the weight, size, and cost. But these special surfaces tend to be more expensive and more sensitive to manufacturing errors than ordinary spheres. Then it is important to use the limited number of special surfaces at the appropriate positions in the optical system.
But in general it is difficult to know the appropriate positions of special surfaces in the optical system a priori. In the actual design, it is common to try a number of combinations of the positions of special surfaces and then to choose the best result from them. If all the possible combinations are to be tried, the cases are usually too many to be tried actually. Considering this problem a new method is proposed here to find the best positions of special surfaces automatically and efficiently.